


On the Road Again

by perniciousLizard



Series: Bunny [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bugs & Insects, F/F, Femslash February, Road Trips, Toriel is ready to look for love again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 08:50:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9648704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perniciousLizard/pseuds/perniciousLizard
Summary: It’s summertime, so the Snowdin Shopkeeper ("Bunny") decides to take her nephew on a cross country trip, to experience more of the surface.  She could really use another adult to help out with all the driving.  Toriel agrees to go along, but she has an ulterior motive for wanting to spend some time with Bunny.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is from day 3 of a [30 day writing challenge](https://alloftheseprompts.wordpress.com/2016/02/28/30-day-challenge-write-about-family/). The prompt was to write about a **family trip**.

The car was loaded up - stuffed full of suitcases, tents, food, and other essentials - and everyone was ready to go.  Toriel tried to distract herself by double checking that they had everything.  

Bunny’s nephew chased Frisk around the yard.  He ran at Frisk and Frisk mostly dodged out of the way at the very last minute.  The children were supposed to be helping pack up the minivan, but Toriel suspected they would soon be grateful the children had gotten a chance to stretch their legs before such a long car ride.

“All right, now, kids!”  Bunny yelled through the door and walked outside. “Anything you forget now, you just have to live with leaving behind!  I saw someone’s bun-bun on their bed, and I don’t want to see any tears tonight when it’s not there!”

The little bunny shot back into the house.

“I do think my child might need to make a visit to the little human’s room before we go,” Toriel said.  "Is that not right, Frisk?“

Frisk was not a child who ever seemed to be in a hurry, but they did not dawdle on their sedate walk back into Bunny’s sister’s house.  

"Now, this’ll be something,” Bunny said, crossing her arms.  "You, me, two kids, and a long road.  It’s exciting!  Sure beats seeing the same two sights over and over."

Toriel laughed.  It was certainly going to be more exciting than the ruins.  There was a part of their trip she was a little worried about, and that might be a little more exciting than either of them wanted, but she had not entirely decided to go through with it.  The old Snowdin shopkeeper seemed so happy to have a new friend to take on this trip across the country, would it be kind to try and change that?  

The little bunny child came back outside, clutching a worn stuffed animal.  His mother followed him out and said her goodbye while they waited for Frisk.

"Now, call every night, no matter what,” she said.  

Frisk came out of the house.  They didn’t say a word, but they looked ready.  

“If everyone is set, let us begin,” Toriel said, smiling.  

“You heard the queen,” Bunny said.  She winked at Toriel and started gently directing her nephew to the car.  

Once everyone had piled in and the doors were closed and locked, Toriel said, “Oh!  I believe that reminds me of a joke.”

“Oh, here we go,” Bunny said.  "Get me outta here.“  She was laughing.

Toriel started to drive.  "Please take my advice and roll when you hit the pavement.”

Frisk said that they wanted to hear the joke.  What a little sweetheart.  

“I have not been a queen for quite some time,” Toriel said.  "But nevertheless, there are those who seem to think that it is my… _crowning achievement_."

"HA!  I like that one!”  Bunny slapped her on the shoulder.  "But you’d better spread these out, or who knows what’ll happen to that crown of yours once I get sick of ‘em."

They stopped at a fast food place for lunch.  The children preferred it to any more pleasant surroundings they could have chosen.  Toriel did not mind the occasional hamburger.  Bunny tested out their salads and discovered after she got one that she missed that there was chicken in it.  Toriel helpfully picked out the meat for her.  

"There’s something about a woman with a healthy appetite,” Bunny said, nudging her and laughing.  

Toriel could tell an obvious flirtatious remark when she heard it, but what was not clear to her was if she was genuinely supposed to take it as a joke.  Well, if Bunny seemed surprised when Toriel made her suggestion, she could mention this particular line.  Bunny could not hold it against her, could she, for ruining their little trip?  It would obviously be a misunderstanding on Toriel’s part.  

It had been far too many years since Toriel had dated.  This was all beyond her.  Sans had told her it would be “just like riding a bike” and once she got back into things, it would all come back to her.  It was difficult to take his words seriously when the only “bicycle” she had ever seen him on had three wheels.  

The first night, they arranged to stay in a hotel.  They hoped to mostly camp as they went along, but Toriel was not prepared to jump right into that.  

“I will get the suitcases,” Toriel volunteered.  She effortlessly lifted one out of the trunk.  

“Wonder if they’ll let us in there with those guns on you,” Bunny said.  

Toriel was very confused, until she remembered that “guns” was another term for “arms.”  She was glad she had been spending so much time exchanging memes with Sans lately.  She burst out laughing one she got it.  "Oh my!  And I certainly hope you do not get us in trouble for 'baring arms.’“

"Right?  It’s a risky business.  Better toss on a coat and smuggle 'em in.”  

“But that would be a shame, would it not?”  

The children were arguing over their little hand held video game players, thankfully, so they were not listening.  

Toriel had planned on waiting until they were a week on their trip.  She had imagined a romantic breakfast watching the sun rise over a lake while the children slept in their sleeping bags.  Or, perhaps, she would save it for an evening when they were in a hotel and the children were safely tucked into beds.  In her imagination, they would sit out on a balcony and sip wine (or she would sip wine, and Bunny would drink beer), and Toriel would explain her feelings.  

Then, perhaps, Bunny would accept.  They would nuzzle noses out of view of the little ones and their cross-country trip would be a romantic getaway for a few minutes.  

Well.  Perhaps now she was getting ahead of herself.  

But, why should she wait a week?  It would be nice to stop worrying about her answer, one way or the other.  She could spend more time thinking about the children and less about her silly fantasies.  

That night, she left the hotel room for a few minutes, to pull herself together.  When she came back, Bunny was fast asleep on her bed.  She had a snore like a chainsaw cutting through a log.  Well.  Toriel had heard a rumor that she snored herself, on occasion.  

A few days later, they sat on a blanket by a lake.  The sun rose over the water. 

“Oh.  Bunny, dear, there was…one thing I wanted to say,” Toriel said.  She sipped a breakfast tea and admired the way the light shone on Bunny’s fur.  

“What’s up?”

Bunny’s nephew ran, screaming, out of his tent and dove into the water.

“That’s ice cold, kid!”  Bunny jumped up.  "Guess it can’t get colder than where he grew up, though, right?"

He popped up out of the water, laughing.  "I win!”  

Frisk walked down to the edge of the water and poked a toe in.  They didn’t seem bothered to have lost a race.

“The little ones are certainly up early,” Toriel said, sighing.  

“It’s exciting!  Can’t blame 'em, really.”  

Bunny asked her later, when they were driving, what Toriel wanted to say before she was interrupted.  Toriel pretended to forget.  

She had decided to bring it up early, but fate seemed to be conspiring to keep Toriel on schedule.  

“I’ve got some bad news for ya, queenie,” Bunny said, two weeks into the trip.

“Oh dear, what is it?”  Toriel scratched behind her ear.  They hadn’t been to a place with a normal shower in several days, and she was not fond of the ones in the camping facilities.  

“You’ve, uh, made some new friends.”  Bunny poked Toriel in the arm.  They watched a small insect bury itself in her fur.  

“Oh.  Oh, _hell_ ,” Toriel said.  

“I’ve probably got 'em, too, but you’ve been scratching up a storm.”  

“I do not believe I am cut out for camping,” Toriel said.  "This may now be _too_ exciting for me.“  She scratched the back of her head, furiously.  She caught a small insect trying to flee.  "What do you think _you_ are doing?”  she asked it.  

“You tryin’ to mom glare away your parasites?”  

“You are right.  There is only one thing to do when you meet such vile creatures.” Toriel opened her mouth and popped it in.  It was not that bad, she had to admit.  

“Uh.”  

“You have to admit that it had it coming.”  

“Meat eaters, what can I say?”  Bunny shrugged.  

“Now, you had all better leave!”  Toriel stood up.  A blazing flash of fire magic took care of the rest of the bugs.  Her clothes and fur were intact, the magic only touching what she wanted it to hurt.  "Do you want me to do the same for you?" she asked Bunny.

"Sure.  Maybe the kids, too.”  Bunny stood up and brushed some crumbs off her lap.  

Toriel very carefully cast her fire magic again.  Bunny started to laugh.

“I gotta admit, Tori, you’re pretty hot when you do that kinda stuff.”  

Toriel laughed, embarrassed.  

“Ha, you really liked that one?  You really do like that kind of joke, huh.”

“It is true."  She fell silent, for a minute, thinking.  "Bunny, I remembered what I wanted to ask, but...”  She sighed.  It was the worst time to do this, but…every other time had been the worst time, too.  She took a deep breath and steeled herself.

“Hey now.” Bunny touched her arm.  "If you’re finally asking me out, give me half an hour.  Just watched you eat a bug.  I’ll say yes, but I gotta shake that memory before you try to plant one on me.  Got it?"

"Oh.  Yes, I do understand,” she said, laughing.  She had not been wrong about being flirted with, after all.  Anticipation fluttered in her chest.

They decided to take a break from camp food and ate at a small diner that night.  They got a booth, and Bunny’s leg pressed against hers for the entire meal.  Toriel did not mind.  She did not think the children noticed.

But Frisk must have noticed _something_ in her behavior, even if they did not notice any surreptitious under table hand-holding.  When they got up to leave the restaurant, Frisk came over to her and held up their little hand.

“What is it, my dear?”  

They kept their hand in the air.  Confused, she gave them a high five.  Without a word of explanation, they gave her a thumbs up and walked away.  


End file.
